Edme Mariotte facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edme Mariotte
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| Born | c. 1620 Til-Châtel, France
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| Died | 12 May 1684 (aged 63-64) |
| Nationality | French |
| Known for | Design of the first Newton's cradle |
Edme Mariotte (born around 1620 – died May 12, 1684) was a French physicist and a priest. He is famous for figuring out a rule about how gases behave, which is now known as Boyle's law. He discovered this rule on his own, just like Robert Boyle did. Mariotte is also known for creating the very first Newton's cradle, a toy that shows how energy moves.
Contents
About Edme Mariotte
His Early Life and Joining the Academy
Edme Mariotte was born in a place called Til-Châtel in France. He was the youngest of five children. Not much is known about his early life.
In 1668, a very important French minister named Jean-Baptiste Colbert invited Mariotte to join the "l'Académie des Sciences." This was a special group of smart people, much like the Royal Society in England. After joining, Mariotte started publishing many scientific papers.
Moving to Paris
Around 1670, Mariotte moved to Paris. He lived there until he passed away on May 12, 1684.
Mariotte's Discoveries
Mariotte made several important discoveries in science.
Boyle's Law (Mariotte's Law)
One of Mariotte's most famous discoveries was in 1679. He found that if you keep the temperature of a gas the same, its volume (how much space it takes up) changes in the opposite way to its pressure. This means if you squeeze a gas to make its volume smaller, its pressure goes up. If you let it expand, its pressure goes down.
This rule was also found by Robert Boyle in 1662. Because of this, it's often called Boyle's law. However, in many parts of Europe, it's known as Mariotte's Law.
The Blind Spot
In 1660, Mariotte discovered the eye's blind spot. This is a small area in your vision where you can't see anything. He showed this by placing a small coin in someone's blind spot, and it would seem to disappear! This trick amazed the French royal court when he first showed it.
Other Important Work
Mariotte wrote many papers on different science topics. These included how fluids move, the nature of colour, how a barometer works (a tool to measure air pressure), and how things fall. He also studied how guns recoil (kick back) and how water freezes.
He also made a big step in understanding how air affects moving objects. He stated that the resistance from the air changes with the square of the speed. This means if something moves twice as fast, the air resistance becomes four times stronger!
The Newton's Cradle
Mariotte designed what we now call the Newton's cradle. This device uses swinging balls to show how energy and motion are transferred when objects hit each other. It helps explain Newton's first law of motion. Even Isaac Newton, a very famous scientist, mentioned Mariotte's work in his own important book, Principia.
See also
In Spanish: Edme Mariotte para niños
- Elastic and inelastic collisions apparatus
- Mariotte's bottle
- List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
